Recalled copies of LittleBigPlanet selling on eBay for up to $249

Copies of the delayed PlayStation 3 title LittleBigPlanet are being offered for sale on auction site eBay for as much as USD 249.

The title was recalled last week, but not before some copies of the game had been shipped to retailers and sold on to customers.

Enterprising sellers are advertising the game as a "rare, recalled version" of the highly-anticipated title, and detailing the reason for the delay as a selling point. As one seller puts it, "this will be a collector's item because you will never be able to buy this version again."

The game was officially delayed on Friday, following the discovery of phrases from the Qur'an on the soundtrack which prompted Sony to hold the title back.

No new date has yet been set for Europe, but a release in the US should come next week.

"We will begin shipping LittleBigPlanet to retail in North America the week of October 27," said an official statement from SCEA.

Developer Media Molecule has revealed that once it discovered the problem, it prepared a day one patch for the game, but Sony was insistent that the game was recalled as users without an online connection would still be subject to the soundtrack.

"At MM we were as shocked and dismayed by this as anyone - shellshocked and gutted," said the studio on its official website.

"Obviously MM and Sony together took this very seriously. LBP should be enjoyable by all. So within 12 hours of hearing about this issue involving a lyric, Media Molecule had prepared an automatic day zero patch and had a new disk image ready; however a decision was made within Sony that the right thing to do for quality and support of people with no online was to replace existing disks.

"They assure us that they are doing everything in their power to get things straightened out as fast as possible, and will announce dates soon."